Last night meeting at Woodhaven church served a constant reminder of the issues that many deaf/hoh face after a long sought settlement between the Department of Justice and the City of Houston.

The truth is the City of Houston has continued to fail in the requirement that has been outlined in the settlement when it comes to meeting the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing individuals. That was one of the main reason to have the March, to bring awareness to the city council of Houston. Brian and Kathy and the other co-founders hope to bring that awareness to the City of Houston and ensure that the requirements are met in the 1998 settlement.

There were about 40 people at the meeting, and some were able to watch the meeting online. Some were there to prepare for the March and others were there to question the integrity of the March and the co-founder’s preparedness. In the meeting, there were more questions than answers and many felt uneasiness in the way the March has been planned. From our observations, we could see many of the audience members did not receive a satisfied answer and was more puzzled than before. However, the March Founders was adamant to go on with the March regardless and mentioned that Brian will be having a meeting with the ADA Coordinator, Robby Laws on the issue of the settlement agreement.

Some has expressed concerns on facts and evidence that could be presented to the City Council in regards to our situation.  Others has expressed that this issue is really a two way street, not just necessarily the City of Houston failure to meet our needs but because we had no one to really follow up with the City of Houston.

So as a result, many of those in the audience had the renew call for an establishment of an organization. An organization that will meet the needs for everyone in the deaf/hoh community. We ask for those to continue to participate and bring more awareness/voice in the establishment for a organization. Please keep an eye on the update on DPHHH.com for information.  Remember this is not about you, but about the deaf/hoh community as whole.  Updates will be coming soon about upcoming meetings in regards to the deaf/hoh community.

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Folks,
This email caught my eye & I can’t help but smile at the similarities in the feelings expressed now and back during the first protest at Gallaudet University for a “Deaf President Now” in March, 1988…
I was fortunate to be there as a graduate student at Gallaudet and on the front lines as history was made…and I learned some valuable lessons in working with the media & politicians in general. There were folks who opposed the protest and those who supported it, but the important thing is that we put aside our differences and worked together for a common cause. I’m not sure that waiting to have a Deaf Awareness Week the most appropriate thing to do to get your legal issues addressed now…I’m also not saying that the Deaf Awareness Week isn’t important, it IS but you need to do much, much more than that…protecting your legal rights is a daily, weekly, monthly, year-round thing…not a onetime event during the year!

You need to have your act together – the Houston Deaf Rights group needs to organize and put out a list of Issues with concrete examples of each, i.e.: legal rights not being addressed or respected, discrimination, etc. What have you tried in terms of resolving these issues in the past? Again you needs dates & data to prove your case..

There is a HUGE amount of pre-planning and organizing to be done before your March — Be sure you have other members of the Deaf Community involved – Interpreters, CODAS, Parents of Deaf children, Deaf-Blind, Teachers from Deaf Programs, members of other disability groups, lawyers, etc…everybody knows somebody who know somebody else who has contacts or can help! They should all help you get the word out to the WHOLE Community, not just the Deaf groups, etc, about the March and be in the City Council Chambers when you speak to the Council.

When you march, keep it peaceful – be sure you have a city permit to march…make sure you are visible, wear similar colors or t-shirts with your slogan on it so people will know who you are
Alert the TV/News media in advance so they can be there to publicize your march – prepare a flyer to distrubute during the march, see if a local printing company can donate this for you…
Have ONE Spokes-person to address the City Council – be sure you know the protocol for signing up to speak, which is usually limited to 2-5 minutes, depending on their rules & respect that – be sure to request an Interpreter be there, and bring one along just in case! Prepare a hand out to give to the City Council Mambers which lists your concerns and what you want done to resolve them.

Present your information in a calm, professional manner, with clear “Talking Points” that show each issue. Appeal to the Council’s sense of doing the right thing, appeal to their sense that we are all on the same team, not a “us vs them” approach. Show them you want to help and work with the Council to improve things so Houston can be a model city, contact Advocacy Inc.and the Texas Governor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities to get their ideas & support. I know the Houston Deaf Rights Organizers are great people and good Leaders, and I wish you all the best!!

Good luck with your Protest and Remember, “It’s always cheaper to provide access than go to court!”
Patti E. Singleton, Ph.D. drpatti7@aol.com

There were diverse individuals from different background, some were Deaf and Hard of Hearing, some had a strong conviction to protest and some were not sure of what was going on. Neverthless, Brian Determan, one of the co-founders of the Deaf Right Protest (the title of the protest has not been clarified) took the floor and explained the issue of why we should need to protest.

Several issues were brought up.  Some stated that it was a long struggle for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals to gain access to interpreters and the city did not fullfill the needs of Deaf individuals. He said that he met with the city and the city coordinator said that there was not much Deaf awareness and did not know how to provide the support for the Deaf community.

Brian said that he has exhausted all channels with the city including meeting with the County Judge which he mentioned it was a woman, (it is Judge Ed Emmett), contacted with the Mayor Bill White, etc. He also mentioned that they (the co-founders) have contacted the Houston Police Department and came to the conclusion that there was no support for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing individuals through HPD. He has mentioned that he contacted James Solboda of the HPD and spoke with him. That gave a strong conviction that they have tried all means of contact and came with no solution. Hence, the main reason to have the protest on June 16th.

After Brian’s explaination, other Deaf/HOH individuals came up and explained their case. One said he became frustrated when he called ahead to request an interpreter and once he showed up in court, there were no interpreter present. He requested to reschedule the court case and asked for an interpreter, the next time again there was no interpreter available. He felt that he had no choice but to communicate through pen and paper. In the process, he felt lost and was unsure of what to do.

Another said that in the past he had problems with calling an non-emergency 911 call and requested an officer to have an interpreter with him present. Once the officer showed up and  the compliant found that they did not bother to have an interpreter. Then when the second time he had to make a non-emergency 911 call, they did not send an interpreter. He said that it was difficult and frustrating so he felt that the time is now to protest and try to deliver the message across.

There were more people who expressed their frustrations and concerns of the lack of access that the city of Houston is not meeting the needs of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.

After all is said and done, I decided to get up and press Brian further to ask him a series of questions relating to the protest. I asked him, “Who is representing the protest, who is the spokesperson?” Brian said, “It is me that will be the spokesperson because I know and understand everyone’s situation and what should be done.” Brian explained that he has seen many cases and realized that it became overwhelming that gave away to the fact that it was enough that the city was not doing anything. The only best possible solution would be is to have a protest/march on June 16th to “wake up” the city council and explain the case to them. Hopefully, the result is that they become more aware of the issue and Brian said that he knows it will be a long process. It will be an effort to get the message cross and felt that this is the best way to go.

Previously earlier, when I asked Brian what he does and he said that he works as an advocate with the office of Deaf/Hard of Hearing services. I felt that it was a conflict of interest since he himself leads the protest and is a spokesperson as well. When I told him that I was concerned about the conflict of interest in terms of public relations and the media’s perspective since it might look like a one man march. Brian said that he is willing to have a neutral person that would be in the best position to be the spokesperson for the protest/march. That has yet to be determined on who is the spokesperson and I was asked to be their spokesperson on the spot.  However, I felt that it was inappropriate because there was no proper voting from the members in the meeting. You cannot just select a member out of the blue but in order to have a spokesperson with a strong backing of the members, you have to have a voting prodecure. I also explained that being a spokesperson is a huge responsibility and it would be a person who truly understands everyone’s concern and be aware of the real issue at hand. I think they should have done an voting prodecure but with the protest date nearing, it would not be enough time in my opinion.  Again, this is not an organization.

When I asked Brian on what  the plan was after the  protest? “Do you have an agenda in place?” He said that he hopes to get the message across through the protest with the city council and eventually start from there. One of the member, Don, has said that we need the protest because it was “long overdue” and that for many years there were problems after problems.

It seems to me that there were some members who are still unsure of whether we should be having a protest and there were other members who are ready for it. When one of the member in the audience asked that if everyone was ready for the protest, Brian said that there are more people who has not showed up in the meeting and those are the people who were ready to protest, there are more “numbers”. I got up in front of the audience and told the members in the audience that “numbers” do not mean a thing. It does not matter if you have a LARGE protest or a small one. What matters the most is the message you are trying to get across, that you have exhausted all channels, and you have no options but to protest.

The meeting took more than 2 hours at length and since the mall was closing at 9, many members felt that there should be more time and Brian suggested that there should be another meeting before the protest. Some of the members agreed to have another meeting and some members have expressed to postpone the protest outright.

In my opinion, I felt that there are more to be done and remain exclusive to the idea that there are more channels to go through such as contacting Judge Ed Emmett, etc. There are other options such as establishing an organization such as Houston Association of the Deaf to provide a strong establishment within the Houston community. We need to have a multi-pronged approach and a better plan of attack. We need to have a more democratic form of ideas and vote on it on which is the best agenda to follow through. It cannot just be the co-founders’  ideas and expressions but requires a community of whole.

First thing I would like to see from the founder and co-founder is a blog that explains EVERYTHING in detail of the plan, agenda, why, etc. That way we as a Deaf community can be better informed and have more meeting with the members of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community. I understand that Brian has mentioned that there has been a meeting prior to establishing the protest but the question is, if several members of the Deaf community is not aware of the issue or a meeting that took place then what good would it do for the protest?

Second, I would like to see an establishment of an organization and have that organization to be a representation of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community then eventually lead the protest. I would like to see a more organized form of structure and prodecures that provides an establishment of electing a spokesperson, leader, etc.

That is why I asked to delay the protest to another date, but if the protest is to continue then at least change the message from complaining that there is a lack of access within the Houston community to a better message of establishing a Deaf representative with the mayor’s office (the city council can vote on that, so why not ask?) If the city council refuses to vote on having a Deaf representation, then it would be a stronger conviction for the Deaf community to say that city council is discriminating  the representation of having a minority voice within the city council and the mayor’s office. It would look better for us through the media and the public but of course, that is just my opinion.

However, the good news is that there will be another meeting on Monday and I am hoping more people will show up and voice their concerns on whether they are supporting the protest or not. Maybe provide a better ideas and options that could lead to better result.

As soon as I find out more about the meeting on Monday I will post!

Feel free to express your concerns in the comment box below and remember, “Rome was not built in a day”

Note – this is solely my opinion and does not represent the opinions of the writers/owner of the dphhh.com

As a contributing member of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community, I would strongly encourage you to attend and participate. Like Billy Koch previously said, “It takes a community.” A community is one of the most valuable thing a Deaf/Hard of Hearing individual can have because not only the support is there but knowing what is going on is important as well. I plan on attending, write (blog), and participate about the meeting and I ask of you to do the same to blog and participate. Therefore, the message will be heard through the blogosphere, Facebook, etc. One person cannot do it all but many of you have the will power to make a difference.

This is my opinion before the meeting and I have many questions to ask. Does the Founder and Co-Founder have a plan? If so, what is it? Have they exhaust all means of communication (contacting members of the community)? Are they well prepared for a long struggle (it may take years, I expect them to not give up)? Vice versa.

Those are the kind of questions I will be asking, not because I want to see the protest to come with results, but because it is part of me. As a Deaf individual, I want to ensure that my opinion and rights are heard. It is not just one person but a community as whole.

Please show up and participate, remember…”It takes a community” – Billy Koch

Here is a flyer – Deaf Protest

Granted they may NOT understand why, but its is not the point.  The point is we need to make our opportunities in a positive manner and have people to reflect off us in a positive manner.  For example I am going to say this – we are at fault for where we are.  As I wrote in my “Together we Stand, Divided we Fall” article.  We are just as responsible for this situation as they the hearing community is.  You ask why?  I’ll tell you why! 

What have we done in the last 20 years?  Have we made an effort to create an organization that could be a political and vocal voice for the deaf community?  No we haven’t.  Instead we whine and cry about what we don’t have.   You know from the late 80’s to the mid-90’s we had Deaf Awareness week – which was a wonderful way of exposing the deaf community to the City of Houston.  And keep in mind back then we dont have all the technology or media we have now.   But by having Deaf Awareness week and utilize this as our opportunity to educate the City of Houston on the people we have in Houston would yield in a much more positive manner.   And I know someone has been talking they are looking to start it up again this year!  *hands waving*  This – I believe would yield more recognition and in a much positive manner than having a protest.  Honestly from what I am hearing the community is divided on this protest.  And if the community is divided on this protest – then we will fail.  We will not look like a strong community. 

Keep in mind – everything takes patience – we have to educate the community and the people on our needs.  It took me almost two years to get my work to finally provide me a video phone for work.   And it was all on education because they don’t understand.    All I am asking is, take a step back – lets organize this deaf awareness week – get the media involved so we can utilize this as an opportunity to express ourselves.  (those of you who would like to get involved – please do so – Deaf Awareness Week can’t be done just by 1 or 3 people – it requires a COMMUNITY of you!

But what I do ask is, take a step back – pull back lets have Deaf Awareness Week, lets keep trying to educate the community and if next year comes around and we still are being fustrated.  Then lets come up with facts, come up with issues, come up with true dedicated information then we as WHOLE can go and protest.   I just ask of this from you!  Do not lose faith – keep the faith.  Lets work together in a positive way and focus on the positives.  A protest at this time is not going to help, lets do our part.  Create more information, create an organizaton who can help one another, educate the community, and if we are still not getting any positive results then we proceed. 

Remember Together we Stand, Divided we Fall.  Think about it and choose your path…

~B